The Store hotel review: Scandi simplicity amid Oxford’s dreaming spires
The Times
When Boswells, one of the world’s oldest family-run department stores, closed in 2020, it was much lamented by Oxford locals. The team behind the vaunted Hôtel Dame des Arts in Paris promised to open a hotel that honoured its 300-year history and, with the opening of the Store, they’ve kept their word. The façade is barely changed: pleasing Rutland sandstone, the still gleaming Boswells lettering above grand display windows. Inside, though, things have moved on: mid-century furniture and Crittal-style screens are hipster semaphore for a hotel with designs on being Oxford’s coolest new place to stay. A talented bar team and playful menus underpin those aspirations. Its success, though, is near guaranteed by its location: most of what visitors come to see is seconds away — Saltburn filming locations included.
Rooms and suites
Score 7/10
Brushed brass lights, Shaker panelling and old photo prints of the store’s heyday, found in the building’s attic, are a nod to Boswells’ past, but the hotel’s 101 rooms now embody a more modern, Scandi-style simplicity. This is particularly the case in the bathrooms, with their matt black, functional fixtures. The rooms are small and ceilings are low, but uncluttered layouts — along with light wood furniture and white walls — stop them feeling pokey. Meanwhile, odd-shaped nooks have been cleverly purposed with velvet armchairs or, in some rooms, freestanding baths. Second-floor front-facing suites have terraces just big enough for sun salutations/downers, with views curving down to Balliol College and the Sheldonian Theatre.
Food and drink
Score 8/10
The marble-topped bar runs almost the width of the building. Visible from the street, through those big shop windows, it’s a see-and-be-seen space for smart coffee or cocktail gatherings on velvet sofas. The bar team’s on and off-menu concoctions are fun and finessed. Try the suitably named Spires — a riff on a Manhattan. From 6pm, head up to the hotel’s rooftop bar; like Philip Pullman’s protagonist Lyra, trespassing atop the fictional Jordan College, you feel you’ve found an illicit vantage for the city’s best views. Face east as the setting sun turns those dreaming spires a golden hue.
Treadwell, the hotel’s restaurant, has a semi-private feel and a calm mood. The white-wall decor feels a little spartan, but original glass vents in the floor — now dramatically uplit — are a fun touch. Andy Robinson, the head chef, offers a menu of “untraditionally British” dishes, such as chicken pie with gunpowder spiced spuds, followed by a spotted dick pain perdu. His overnight brisket and Ogleshield cheese croquettes (also an excellent side to an old fashioned in the bar) are particularly special.
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What else is there?
Score 8/10
Below ground, the spa has made the best of its setting with a series of cocoon-like spaces, lined with reeded walnut panelling. Products are by the lauded Oskia brand and the massages are top notch.
Where is it?
Score 10/10
Short of putting beds in the Radcliffe Camera, this is as prime a location as you could hope for. The 250-year-old covered market is next door and you’ll find Blackwell’s, Oxford’s most famous bookshop, a short walk down Broad Street. Then there’s the Bodleian Library and the gothic Divinity School, where the 30-minute tour will please Harry Potter fans (£10pp); a host of the big-hitting colleges (accessed free at evensong); and the Turf Tavern, Oxford’s most wizened boozer. Ten minutes away by foot is England’s oldest botanic garden, and, further afield, Blenheim Palace is about a 30-minute drive.
Price B&B doubles from £285
Restaurant mains from £19
Family-friendly Y
Accessible Y
Dog-friendly Y